California hospitals work together to transform hospital food

SAN FRANCISCO—In reviews on Yelp, San Francisco's Moffitt Café averages four-and-a-half out of five stars. "Unbelievable variety, farm to table fresh food, wide produce selection, and great prices!" enthuses one customer. “I'm really happy with eating here, they have SO many options,” gushes another.

Not bad reviews ... especially for a hospital cafeteria. Moffitt Café, also known as “the Moffitteria," is the main dining hall of the University of California at San Francisco (UCSF) Medical Center. Since undertaking a $6.5m café renovation in 2010, the nutrition and food services department at UCSF has been working to renovate the menu as well, attempting to integrate eating choices that are tasty, healthy and good for the environment.

Even though a short hospital stay is unlikely to change anyone's bad eating habits, it's "a big educational opportunity," says food-service project manager Jack Henderson. "We need to lead by example, because we are a teaching institution."